Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground

If you're kicking yourself about missing The Head and the Heart last month at Block Party, The Comet, and/or Sonic Boom, you're in luck: our new favorite six-piece will be bringing the bliss to Columbia City Theater tonight, when they open up for Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground.

The Head and the Heart -- recently voted "Best Band that Didn't Exist Twelve Months Ago" in the Best of Seattle poll -- has taken our town by storm this summer. With a decidedly four-on-the-floor (and then some) sound and a stage presence that just won't quit, this group takes that earnest, backroad, achey-core vibe to a whole 'nother lev. And they're busy bees, too -- now that their self-titled release is out, they've got nine shows in September alone with the likes of Fences, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, and more. Whether you're at KEXP's Mural series, heading to PDX for Music Fest Northwest, or just generally kicking it on the left coast, you'll be able to dig on one of their shows.

But getting back to tonight -- come for the sweet stories, and stay on for the headliner. Tickets are only $12 and the whole boat gets going at 9pm.

Bumbershoot takes place at the Seattle Center this September 5-7 and there's about a million and a half things to do (bands, literary panels, art shows, Flatstock, kettle corn lunches) over the three-day fest.

To help folks (especially ourselves) prepare for Bumbershoot 2009, we put together this lil mix of some of the things you should add to your Bumbershoot scheduling spreadsheet. We hope this helps you pick your must-sees or at least provides a soundtrack as you wander to and fro.

As if we weren't excited enough about our Top of the Croc spectacular on Saturday, here's this lovely photo of Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground by our own Amelia Gyde who caught the Kay Kay/Builders and the Butchers show at the Croc last Friday.

TIG staffers are a lot like you -- coming up with our list of faves for the year is a fun and gripping process. After comparing/contrasting/debating our individual favorites, we figured the sum of our imaginary parts would make for an interesting list.

While ChrisB and Keenan, among other things, brought in the power-pop elements, Chris Estey stood by the smartie subtle elements of this year's Northwest offerings. Imaginary liz, as usual, loved the lo-fi and indie-pop songs, while imaginary dana spent much of the year obessed with Throw the the Statue and of course, the Fleet Foxes. And nearly all of us agreed that the Saturday Knights album was a force to be reckoned with. Here's our our staff votes tallied up...